


I know of a dream I should be holding

by bleulily (winterfells)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura is a very very subtle wingwoman, Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Season 5 Spoilers, dumb boys in love, inspired by the cave of the two lovers from atla
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 13:49:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14166249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterfells/pseuds/bleulily
Summary: Keith looked at him, his eyes still widened, and he opened his mouth to speak. He seemed to think about what he was going to say for a few seconds, before he quickly closed his mouth again.“What are you thinking about?” Lance asked.“I think I might have an idea,” Keith replied. “If all it takes is to give into the idea that love between two people is real then maybe we could… we could kiss."





	I know of a dream I should be holding

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write a little fic that could motivate me to get back into writing and here it is. This is very heavily inspired by the cave of the two lovers episode from atla, as I said in the tags. Special thanks to my friend Brigid for helping me beta-read this, and to all my friends who motivated me to finish writing it.
> 
> Title comes from On Your Shore by Enya.

When Lance agreed to help the princess, he hadn’t expected his day to have such a wild turn of events.

It seemed like a simple task: go to Eslion, retrieve the zolite, then return to the castle. He had known from the beginning that he wouldn’t find the zolite the moment he set foot on the mysterious planet - Allura had explained to him more than once that he could only find it in a cave, and the cave was deep in the planet’s forest. However, with the knowledge of Eslion being a planet more similar to Earth than many others they had been to before, he had at least expected his quest to be a little easier on him.

Retrieving the zolite all on his own wasn’t exactly the sort of task Lance would have gone for on a normal day, but he knew the princess would be with Hunk at a diplomatic meeting, and Shiro and Pidge would be helping rebels rescue prisoners from a Galra base. The zolite wouldn’t be of any use to anyone else on the team aside from Allura, as it was a mineral often used for Altean alchemy. But knowing how much it meant for her to find it, and fearing staying on his own at the castle, with nothing else to do but sitting on his room playing video games all evening, Lance had opted to offer his help.

He wandered around the planet for a while, taking in the beautiful picture painted with greens and browns before him. The trees stood so tall they made Lance feel very little. Eslion did in fact remind him of his own planet Earth. He cherished the moments in which he was allowed to walk around places such as this one, thinking of all the memories it brought him from when he was back with his family, walking down on beaches or exploring the countryside in spring. He liked being surrounded by greens, and yellows and blues, and he thought that the brighter they were, the better. He missed summers the most, and how rain falling on his skin felt. He wondered if it rained often in Eslion, and hoped that he would at least get a little chance to get wet.

But as he wandered deeper into the forest, with Red now far behind him, he realised that he wasn’t alone. There weren’t many, but there was a small group of Galra soldiers gathering around a fire, speaking loudly and making plans against the current empire. Lance quickly hid behind a tree so none of them would take notice of him, but as soon as he found the chance, he ran away from them and tried to contact the princess.

Allura, much like himself, was surprised to hear about the Galra soldiers wandering around Eslion. It was a planet with few inhabitants, but they lived secluded away from the forest, and they were known to work with the rebels against the Galra empire. She wondered if perhaps they were searching for the zolite like himself, or if they were merely trying to find a place to hide away from Lotor and those loyal to him, but she quickly warned him to stay away from them, and assured him someone would go over and help him secure the mission.

“I’ll be fine, princess,” he said over the comms, his voice confident enough for her to trust him. “There’s no need for any of you to leave what you’re doing to come and help me.”

Allura remained silent for a few seconds, before she spoke sternly. “You don’t have to do this alone, Lance.”

Lance sighed, knowing there was no reasoning against her judgement, and proceeded to wander around the forest. Allura had given him instructions as to where to find the zolite before he left on his mission. She had told all sorts of stories to him about her father taking her to Eslion with him and her mother on more than one occasion. She’d told him about the cave with a waterfall inside, and how that waterfall was the only place from which he could retrieve the zolite. She’d also explained to him there was a legend about two girls and the cave, but it had never occurred to him it could be useful for his mission.

He walked on his own for what felt like hours, wondering if perhaps Allura had given up on sending someone to help him, when he heard some creaking noises behind him, and realised there was a hooded figure following him. He sighed in relief knowing it wasn’t a Galra soldier, but grew tense as soon as he took in the image before him. It was a  _ marmorite _ as he liked to call them, and he was a little shorter than Lance. He didn’t have to think twice before knowing who was standing before him, as there was only one Galra among the hundreds he had met that was shorter than him.

“You didn’t have to come all the way here, you know,” he said softly, his eyes instantly shifting towards the trees surrounding them. “I know you’re busy with your missions and all, and I’m sure I can manage all on my own. It’s not like there’s dozens of them. And I know Allura can be really stern about these things, and it’s hard to say no to her, but really I can-”

“I wanted to come here, and I didn’t have anything else to do anyway,” Keith replied, his voice muffled by the mask he was wearing.

Lance opened his mouth to speak, but he quickly closed it and turned his back on Keith so he could continue walking. He was aware of Keith’s eyes piercing him from behind and he felt guilty for not speaking to him, but he had no idea of how to approach Keith after everything that had happened, and he hadn’t expected to see him again under these circumstances. He tried to continue searching for the cave, trying not to dwell too much on his shock upon Keith’s arrival, but he was failing miserably.

They walked in awkward silence for a while, with Lance trying to make a mental map in his head so they wouldn’t stumble across the Galra soldiers again. There was something about forests that made Lance feel lost, always thinking he was crossing the same paths over and over again. He thought there wasn’t much difference among the long trees, and despite them being all beautiful, and the forest so captivating, the thought of Keith behind him, and the cave being nowhere near his sight combined with his difficulty to differentiate his path made Lance a little stressed.

“I hope everyone at the castle has been alright,” Keith said, interrupting Lance’s thoughts. Lance turned to look at him, and he wondered what Keith’s face looked like behind his marmorite mask, what had changed about him after all this time. Lance desperately wanted to see his face.

“We’ve been okay, yeah,” Lance replied., “I’m not exactly happy about having Lotor spending so much time at the castle, but thankfully he hasn’t attempted anything weird yet. Hopefully he won’t ever try to, because I’ll sure create a war against the Galra myself if he does.”

Keith chuckled, the sound a melody to Lance’s ears. He had missed Keith’s laugh. “I thought you’d say that.”

Lance gave him a small smile before turning away to face the path again. He wanted to talk more to Keith, to tell him what he had been meaning to every time he thought he’d get a chance to see him again, but the thought of them meeting again in the middle of a mission, contrasting what he had originally fantasised brought him back to reality and and gave him a certain ache in his stomach. He proceeded to try and focus on his task at hand instead again.

He tried to watch the trees closely, trying to find any clue of a cave, or at least a sign that they had walked around this path before; but before he could check on his surroundings, he stumbled upon a large branch, making a loud noise that would surely be heard in close proximity. Lance’s head turned as he heard a noise in the woods, and he noticed several figures moving in their direction. Soon enough the group of Galra was marching towards them.

Keith quickly tried to help Lance up and took out his knife to attack the enemies surrounding them. There weren’t many at first, and Keith found it a little too easy to cause damage to the Galra and help him and Lance escape, but before they even got the chance to think about it, more and more Galra soldiers kept appearing.

Lance pulled out his bayard that turned into a sword and lunged toward a Galra soldier trying to attack Keith. The soldier laughed as he watched the look of determination on Lance’s face, but he quickly regretted his amusement as Lance jabbed towards his chest. He fought the next Galra that came towards him with as much determination as he had done previously, and so he continued with the next one and the next one, but there were dozens surrounding them.

Lance took a deep breath, trying to think of a plan that could save them from this ambush. He knew him and Keith wouldn’t be able to to take all the Galra soldiers on their own, and he knew that calling out for Red to get close to them could be risky, but as soon as Keith lunged towards the next soldier, he spotted the cave they had been looking for ever since he had arrived.

“Keith,” he whispered before grabbing his friend’s hand and driving him away from the soldier.

Keith looked at him, angry and confused. He opened his mouth to yell at Lance and tell him they would only put themselves at more risk, but he closed it when the two of them started running towards the cave, Lance’s shield protecting them from any sort of attacks the Galra could throw at them.

Lance was surprised to find the soldiers hadn’t followed them inside the cave, and rather watched them with amusement; but before he could celebrate, he watched as they began covering their entrance to the cave with large rocks - leaving them with no room to escape.

“Lance?” Keith asked, confusion clear in his muffled voice, “What’s the deal with this cave? Why did you lead us here? Why did they not follow us?”

“I… I’m not sure,” Lance admitted, “But I brought us here because this is where we’re supposed to find the zolite - or at least, that’s what Allura told me.”

“What else did she tell you?”

“Well, she told me this cave is actually a labyrinth, but she also gave me instructions as to which paths we need to take to find the zolite. There’s a small waterfall somewhere inside this place. Maybe if I make a map following her instructions we’ll find it easier, and we’ll retrieve the zolite in no time-”

“Lance,” Keith said loudly enough to bring Lance into a halt, “Did she tell you if there’s another way out?”

Lance looked at him sternly then shook his head. “Not exactly. She told me that the times she came here with her father they would come out of the cave from a different gate, but she didn’t exactly tell me where to find it… or maybe she did and I wasn’t paying attention, but I think I would remember at least  _ something _ about it if that was the case. I think the other gate might be close to where the waterfall is, especially because she didn’t exactly say anything about walking any further.”

Keith took a look around the cave. There were many different paths for them to take, as Lance had explained, but they were in the midst of the dark with no light to guide them toward the right place.

“Can I borrow your bayard for a second? I need some light to help me find some wood or sticks that we could light. It might also be a good idea for you to make that map you mentioned earlier. Do you have any paper?”

“No, but I have my phone,” Lance replied, “And I think that’s more likely to provide light than my bayard could. I can wait here until you find the sticks or wood - if you’re lucky enough to find any, that is - and then when you come back, I can draw the map on my phone so we can continue our journey.”

Keith nodded. “Okay.”

Lance handed his phone to Keith and watched as he walked away, with only his phone’s light serving as his guide. Lance looked at his surroundings, taking in everything that was before him. He found that not only was it dark inside, it was also quite cold, and soon he found himself wishing his suit was a little warmer. He had only been in a cave back on Earth once, but he had never been in a labyrinth before, and he had always been intrigued by the idea of being in one.

He reviewed Allura’s instructions in his head over and over again, imagining the path the way Allura had described it. He wanted to see the waterfall mostly. He imagined it was beautiful, with a light so bright it looked almost neon in contrast to the rest of the scenery. He thought it would probably assimilate Altean technology, and he wished he could at least take a couple of pictures of it to cherish them forever.

He waited patiently as Keith returned with a few pieces of wood and a couple of rocks he was planning to use to light up the fire. Lance moved towards him and helped him up until both of them carried a torch. When they were done, Lance proceeded to draw a quick map with Allura’s instructions that would guide them towards the way. Or at least Lance hoped it would.

“Let’s go exploring this labyrinth then,” Keith said.

 

* * *

 

 

Lance sat on the floor, exasperated, his feet sore from all the walking. He didn’t know how long they had been in the labyrinth exactly, but he was certain it had been at least three hours. He was still feeling a little cold from being inside the cave, but he was grateful they weren’t walking for that long under the sun. He looked at the map he had drawn over and over again, but nothing seemed to drive them towards the right direction.

“Are you sure those were Allura’s instructions?” Keith asked. “Because I’m fairly certain we’ve been following what your map was telling us.”

Lance moved his eyes towards the ceiling and nodded. “I know it may look to others like I’m dumb and can’t remember important things, but I wanted to be an actor when I was younger, so I joined the theatre club of my school, which made me reinforce my memory skills because I had to memorize all my lines.”

Keith smiled. “I know.”

Lance sighed, suddenly feeling a little frustrated and inadequate for not being able to fulfill a simple task. He wondered what everyone was doing back at the castle, if Shiro and Pidge had rescued the rebels, and if Hunk and Allura had reached any sort of agreement with a new race of aliens about the coalition. He wondered what would have happened if Keith had never left the castle, and if they would be on this mission together if Keith had stayed.

“Lance… what’s wrong?” Keith asked softly, his voice barely a whisper.

Lance looked at him, quirking one eyebrow. “Well, we’ve been in this labyrinth for a while, and we still haven’t found the zolite or a way out. Not to mention there’s dozens of Galra outside this cave, and Red could be in danger.”

“No, I mean, what’s wrong with  _ you _ ?” Keith asked as his eyes shifted towards his hands. He bit his lip nervously before he continued. “You seem a little… distant.”

“Distant?”

Keith nodded. “I mean, you’ve been a lot quieter ever since I arrived, which is a little rare with you. And then your bayard has turned into a sword and you didn’t even tell me about it. Is it… because of me?”

Lance hesitated before giving him an answer. “A little,” he admitted. “I mean it’s not that I think badly of you or anything, but it’s just… You left that day without giving us much explanation as to why. We had started to be closer to each other one day, and the next second you were gone. I’ve wanted to reunite with you since the moment you left, and I’d imagined all sort of scenarios where we would catch up with each other at the castle, or at a coalition party. I never expected this to happen on a silly mission like this one, especially because there’s so much I’ve been trying to tell you, and I can’t seem to find the perfect moment to do it.”

Keith looked down at his feet and remained silent. There was so much going through his mind, and Lance wondered if it would be right to interrupt him.

“I tried to reach out to you a few times, but I was never able to hear back from you-”

“I’m sorry,” Keith whispered, his voice breaking.

“Don’t apologise, not to me. I wanted to reach out to you because I needed you to know that all of us at the castle will always love you no matter what, that your life is important to every single one of us, and we all want to see you happy. When you tried to… to sacrifice yourself, I was desperate to tell you all this, and I wanted to tell you at a moment when I knew you wouldn’t be placing all your focus on the mission, but I guess that’s not what fate wanted, huh?”

Keith turned to look at him, his eyes puffy and his face flushed. Lance had seen Keith vulnerable a few times before, but never like this. “Do you really mean that?”

Lance nodded quickly. “I do, and I know for a fact that everyone agrees with me. You’re our friend, Keith. You’re my best friend. I really enjoyed spending time with you before you left, and I missed you a lot when you were gone.”

Keith took a seat next to him, and looked down at his hands again. “I’m sorry for leaving so abruptly. It really was a decision I took in the moment, even if it had crossed my mind a few times before,” Keith admitted, “I never wanted to fully leave the team, but I also felt really inadequate as the team’s leader, especially with Shiro back.”

Lance let out a sigh. “Yeah, I think I understand what you mean.”

“I wanted to do something useful, and at the Blade I felt that I was being at least a little more useful than by being a terrible leader. But then I started going on missions with the Blade and started being late for my missions with Voltron, and I knew you were all mad at me, and I wasn’t able to handle the pressure of disappointing the people I care about, so I left. But I’ve missed you too Lance, and when I heard Allura talk to Kolivan about the mission, asking him to let me come here, I had to.”

Lance smiled. “I’m glad you came here too.”

Keith looked at him again, his eyes puffy and a tear streaming down his cheek. “Lance, I haven’t been very well,” he admitted, “There’s something about being with the Blade that makes me feel empty, and as much as I try to shake off the feeling, it doesn’t seem to leave. I never responded to your calls because I didn’t want to burden you with all of this, and then I found my mother, and she started helping me with this, but I wanted to talk about it with you too. It’s not easy for me to… to talk about this, but you’ve always been a good listener.”

Lance placed a hand on Keith’s lower back and offered him a smile. “Of course, buddy,” he said as he began drawing circles on Keith’s back, “You know I’m always going to listen.”

“And you know I’ll always listen to you too.”

“I know.”

They remained in comfortable silence, with Lance’s hand still on Keith’s back. It had been a while since they’d had such an intimate moment, just the two of them opening up to each other. Lance remembered the time he went to visit Keith in his room and opened up to him, or at least as much as he had opened up to anyone on the team before. He remembered Keith’s comforting words, and how he had smiled brightly at him before Lance stepped outside of his room.

Lance smiled and nodded. “So you found your mom, huh? What’s she like?”

“She’s a lot like me, I think,” Keith replied, a small smile forming on his lips.“It was difficult to deal with the whole situation at first - especially because of her absence through most of my life, but I think we’re slowly trying to make this work out, and I really enjoy having a mother backing me up.”

“That’s good.”

Keith grinned and nodded, and for a moment Lance forgot about everything that was going on in the universe outside of the cave. But then his eyes flickered, and his attention moved towards a tunnel that was ahead of them. There was a light coming out of it - the sort of light he would find on Altean technology - and he immediately stood up.

He started walking towards it, Keith quickly following him. The tunnel guided them towards a small paradise inside the cave. There was a small, yet beautiful cascade in the middle of the place, and around it, there were various Altean markings telling a story Lance didn’t quite understand. The two boys stared at the image in front of them in awe, realising that whatever their imagination had come up with to describe the place didn’t do it justice. Lance wanted to take more than a couple of pictures of the place.

“So this is it, huh?” Keith asked as he walked towards the Altean markings, his hands covering them as though they would explain the story they were telling through his hands.

“I believe so,” Lance replied as his eyes shifted towards the rocks at the bottom of the cascade. He inspected them, and in between them found the mineral Allura had sent him to seek for. He picked it up carefully and kept it secure in his hand. It was opalescent, and really cold between his fingers. He made a mental note to bring a bag for him to carry the minerals Allura sent him to search for the next time.

“So what are those markings telling you?” Lance asked as he followed Keith, who still kept his hands on them.

“They’re old Altean drawings, I think this is a story about their ancestors,” Keith replied, “They kind of remind me of the markings we found in the cave where we found Blue, but this story seems completely different from anything regarding Voltron. I think this is about two girls.”

Lance looked at him, his memories connecting into something more. He was beginning to see the bigger picture. “It is about two girls, it’s a legend and a love story. Allura told me about it after giving me instructions on how to find the cascade. They came from two completely different civilisations, so their love was forbidden, and they built the labyrinth inside this cave so they would come here and reunite, but no one else would find them. They made it so complicated so only two people who were meant to be together would be able to to come in and out. But one day, their parents found them before they could get into the cave, and they captured them. They were both reprimanded for their actions, reminded that a love between two civilisations like theirs could never be; but they couldn’t leave without each other, and soon after being separated, they turned into stars the colour of their civilisations, where they reunited again in the astral plane.”

Keith, who had been watching Lance intently, suddenly turned towards the cascade. He pondered for a few seconds, trying to connect the dots the same way Lance had done before he began telling the story, then he looked at him with eyes widened. “So all it takes to get out is for two people to be meant to be together. That sure seems easy.”

“I think that mostly what it takes is to give into the idea that the love between two people is real,” Lance said softly.

Keith looked at him, his eyes still widened, and he opened his mouth to speak. He seemed to think about what he was going to say for a few seconds, before he quickly closed his mouth again.

“What are you thinking about?” Lance asked.

“I think I might have an idea,” Keith replied. “If all it takes is to give into the idea that love between two people is real then maybe we could… we could kiss. After all, kisses are a way to show affection, and they make everything more real.”

“You want us to… to kiss?” Lance asked, his hands fidgeting with the zolite in his hands.

“Forget it, it’s a silly idea anyway,” Keith hissed.

Lance furrowed his eyebrows before nodding and looking away. He knew deep down that Keith’s idea wasn’t entirely wrong, especially because deep down he knew that he loved Keith more than he had ever loved anyone else before. But as much as he loved Keith, it was always up to question whether Keith loved him back. There were many moments in which Lance thought it was a big possibility, but Keith was a little hard to read when it came to romance, especially because he never seemed to show much care about the matter.

Lance sighed in frustration and walked towards the cascade again. It had been a long time since he had been so close to a body of water like the one standing before him, and the want to get inside and feel the water running over his body overcame him. He knew the sensation wouldn’t be the same with his suit on, but he wanted to try it anyway.

He walked towards it, dipping his entire body in the cascade, limb by limb, until he was fully covered. He let the water fall into his face, his hair, his neck - he rejoiced in the sensation of the cool water on his face, and he laughed. He let himself get lost in the moment, forgetting about his mission, and Keith looking at him in confusion, trying to get them out of the cave, but not willing to kiss him to be able to actually get them out. He let go of his worries and his pain for those moments, he only thought about the water.

“Lance?” Keith asked as he followed him towards the waterfall.

Lance smiled at him then looked behind the cascade. There was another tunnel, one that was completely dark and contrasting the cascade and the markings that surrounded it. He walked towards it, signaling for Keith to follow him. They had left their torches behind, and they were now completely in the dark, so Keith’s hand immediately sought for Lance’s.

“What are we going to do now?” Keith asked, his voice tinted with a bit of desperation.

Lance understood the way he felt, worried about whether they would actually make it out of the cave, angry at himself for taking a quest that was nowhere near easy for him to fulfill - but he knew there was only one thing they could do.

“Keith, there’s something I didn’t get to tell you earlier, something I’ve been trying to tell you for a while now,” he said softly, his other hand quickly finding Keith’s, “I know there’s a high possibility that it’s really just me, and I’m taking a risk I probably shouldn’t, but ever since I met you at the Garrison you’ve been in my mind for all sorts of reasons. I don’t think I understood what it was at first - I don’t think I fully grasp the concept of it now - but ever since you left I’ve had enough time to ponder enough on it, and I think that what I’m trying to say is that-”

“I love you, Lance,” Keith interjected as he took a step closer to him, his breathing hot against Lance’s lips. “I’ve loved you for so long now.”

“I love you too.”

Lance couldn’t remember who made the first move, or how it really started, but he remembered the feeling of Keith’s lips against his own. They were warm and softer than he had ever imagined, and Lance was soon smiling deep into their kiss, with his hands moving towards Keith’s hair, as Keith’s own hands cupped his cheeks. They kissed each other hungrily, desperate to make up for all the time that had been lost, until they could no longer breathe.

“I love you so much, Lance,” Keith whispered, his breath still hot on Lance’s face.

Lance grinned, his heart lurching in his chest upon hearing those words again. “I love you too.”

Lance gasped in surprise as familiar Altean lights started spreading around them, guiding them towards the gate that lead outside the cave. They were a beautiful sight after spending so much time in the darkness, and Lance smiled as he grabbed a hold of Keith’s hand again, the zolite in his other hand. They smiled at each other and began to walk outside the cave, relieved upon finding Red was already waiting for them.

**Author's Note:**

> Some important things you might be wondering about:
> 
> 1\. After joining together in Red, Keith and Lance discussed Keith's return to the team. Keith's mother had also been encouraging him to go back. He made some arrangements to be able to see his mother in between Voltron missions, but he definitely returned to the castle after this.  
> 2\. Allura had never been to the cave before, only her parents had been able to get in. Her father gave her all the information about retrieving the zolite for future reference (aka for when she found her own true love).  
> 3\. Allura made up this entire mission so Keith and Lance would reunite and realise they're in love. She actually kept some zolite her father left in the castle. She however, wasn't expecting the Galra soldiers to be there, she was just planning to let Keith arrive by surprise.  
> 4\. The Galra soldiers were hiding there because they thought there were barely any inhabitants in Eslion so they wouldn't be chased after if they stayed in the forest, and also because they were near that planet.  
> 5\. The two stars referenced at the end of the cave's legend are the red and blue stars from the astral plane in season two. I wanted to add this bit because I wanted it to be left implied that Keith and Lance are soulmates (and specifically those two girls reincarnated).
> 
> I really enjoyed writing this fic, and I equally hope you guys enjoyed reading it! You can find me on Twitter ([bleupaiadin](https://twitter.com/bleupaiadin)) and Tumblr ([bleulily](http://bleulily.tumblr.com/)) if you ever wanna talk!


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